Chapter 39 Kaia
KAIA
Three months pass after my rescue and they’re the most peaceful, blissful months of my life.
Every check-up with the doctor brings me news that my baby is growing and thriving.
The twins and I bond over tea parties, painting, and they teach me boat safety when we finally make it out onto the lake to celebrate Frank’s birthday.
Florence becomes a shoulder to lean on when it comes to learning how to navigate a pregnancy, and I discover that the new guard Zack, who appeared while I was in my coma, is actually her son.
My nightmares ease with every passing day and only creep back when Flynn’s work keeps him out of bed longer than I’d desire.
But most importantly, the Yudkin name is no more.
With Flynn’s help, I delve into the forgery side of his business and we work together to fill the gap my family left, which is rather easy to do considering how often I painted for Antov anyway.
Flynn’s careful steps into jewelry forgeries grow after I take several lessons in gemstone curating, and we hire an expert from an Italian family who’s eager to repay an old debt to Flynn by helping him get a foothold in the market.
I have a life, and that life is more precious to me than anything else in the world.
“Why are you smiling?” Flynn asks gently as we stroll through the gardens late one evening.
Fall is here, and the vibrant green trees and bushes have all turned to gorgeous oranges and red, making the garden feel even warmer as we walk arm in arm.
“I was thinking.”
“About?” Flynn prompts.
“How far I’ve come. I used to think I had a good life back then.
Painting. Playing cards. Shopping. But looking back…
it was so lonely and cold. Anya was my only companion and without her, I spent so much time alone.
I told myself it was what I wanted, but comparing it to now?
” My head tilts and my free hand moves over my swollen belly.
“Now I feel like I’m alive. Really alive.
I…” I sigh softly. “I don’t know if that even makes sense.
I just don’t feel like I’m drifting in existence anymore, y’know? ”
“It makes perfect sense,” Flynn replies and he leans down, kissing the top of my head. “Knowing you’re happy is the only peace I need.”
“I am happy. With you and the twins. With our little nugget.” I gently pat my bump. “All we’re missing is a dog, or is that too domestic?”
“You’ve been talking to the twins,” Flynn snorts softly. “Ever since our last trip to the cinema they have not stopped talking about a dog.”
“Are you against dogs?”
“I’m against untrained dogs, and with a newborn?” He raises one brow. “I have concerns.”
“Then get a puppy. They can grow together and bond.”
“And when the twins get jealous that the baby is closer to the dog than them?”
“By the time it becomes an issue, your twins will be more interested in boys or girls.”
Flynn’s eyes widen. “Never.”
“Never?” I giggle. “Never ever?”
“No dating until they’re at least forty.”
“Ouch,” I wince. “I guess I should end this then…” Teasing, I pull my arm away, and Flynn immediately drags me back into his hold.
“Not a chance am I ever letting you get away.”
“How possessive.” I grin as a thrill lights up in my chest. “You realize if either of your daughters come home with an older lover, you’re screwed right?”
“Actually,” Flynn smirks. “We’re a special case. Everything we went through? My children will never know such hardships.” His smile softens somewhat and he leans down to kiss me again. “And you never will again.”
“How romantic,” I murmur. “In thirty years when our baby is grown, I’ll remember this when it comes to putting you in a care home.”
He gasps softly. “You wound me.”
“Mhm. Oh.” Pausing on the curve of the path, I point to the naked flower bed. “I never noticed, but you got rid of all the Lily of the Valley.”
“I never knew it was there until you tried to poison me,” Flynn admits. “You saved my kid’s life. Didn’t need them putting that in their mouth while they were making grass salads for the tea parties.”
“Glad I could help.” Pausing our walking, I turn and lean up to kiss his cheek. “I still feel a little bad about that.”
“Don’t. I like a powerful woman.”
“I can tell.”
Our walk resumes and we wander down to the end of the garden where a small patio rests near the fence and looks out across the trees toward the lake.
At this time of year, the lake is much quieter and it glitters like a thousand diamonds have been scattered across the land.
“This spot is so beautiful,” I murmur as Flynn helps me ease down onto the bench. “I want to paint out here.”
“I can set that up. Maybe arrange some loungers so you can paint and rest.”
“Worried about my ankles?” I tease softly.
“Always.”
“That makes two of us.” Leaning back, I groan softly. “Fuck. I might need to pee again.”
“Do you need help?”
I lean to one side, adjusting myself and shake my head. “No, I’m okay. I think it’s just my body adjusting to being seated.”
“You sure?”
I reach up and cup his face with a smile. “I love how adorable you get when you’re concerned,” I say softly and then, for the first time since I acknowledged what I felt, it suddenly feels like the perfect time to say it. “And I love you.”
Flynn freezes under my touch then slowly sits down next to me. “You do?”
“I do. I love everything about you. Your body. Your dick. I love how you are with the twins, how you care for everyone. How protective you are. I love how you were willing to look past my family name and create your own opinion of me, giving me a chance. I love how you support me, I love how you care for me and I love…I love how you thought of Anya even when I was in my coma. I love how you care and I just…I wanted to say it sooner. I wanted to say it properly but I just…waited and now feels like the perfect time to tell you because I love you so much, Flynn. I love you so much sometimes it feels like it might suffocate me and I—.”
His mouth immediately covers mine and he places his hand against the side of my neck, kissing me deeply.
“I love you too, Kaia,” he murmurs against my lips, then kisses me again. “I love you with everything I have. And I’m so, so glad you told me.”
“You are?”
“I am.” He kisses me again and leans back an inch. “Because everything I did to help you, to erase your family and set up these new businesses, including the park for Anya and everything, has quite a few of the other families calling me ‘king,’ and I know it’s a joke, but Kaia…”
Suddenly, he slides from the bench to the ground in front of me, and my heart lurches up into my throat.
“No one can be a king without a queen. I don’t care if it’s corny, it’s exactly how I feel.
” Out of his pocket, he pulls a small black box.
“I bought this the day you woke up,” he murmurs and his voice turns whisper soft.
“I wanted to ask you to marry me then, but I was scared. And then I wanted to wait and give you time to tell me how you felt because my life with you in it is the only life I want. You make me strive to be a better man, a better father. You’ve given me the gift of Eva back to me, of another baby that will be just as gorgeous as you and I can’t…
bear the thought of us not being a complete, proper family.
So if you’ll have me, Kaia, from this day until the end of our days, marry me.
Marry me and be a Gallagher, be my wife and my queen, let me be at your side for everything you do and everything you want. Marry me, Kaia. I love you. Marry me.”
For a few seconds, I can’t breathe. Everything he says is woven with love, and tears spring into my eyes before he’s even halfway through.
By the time he pops the real question, I’m crying quietly, and it takes me a moment to catch my breath. But when I do, there’s only one answer on my lips.
I cup his face and draw him up to me, kissing him deeply and repeatedly until he laughs.
“I need an answer, darling.”
“Oh!” I laugh and kiss him hard again. “Yes! Yes I’ll marry you! I’ll marry you, oh my god yes!”
We dissolve into kisses and my heart soars as finally, everything slots into place.
Kaia Gallagher has a nice ring to it, after all.
If you loved Flynn and Kaia’s dark, dangerous romance, don’t miss Guilty Guardian—a steamy age-gap mafia romance where the protector becomes the greatest threat.
I ran.
He hunted.
Falco Tierney is my father’s most lethal enforcer.
Thirty-eight. Scarred. Loyal to the Don.
Until me.
“Touch her,” he says, voice calm as a loaded gun, “and I’ll start a war.”
I’m the mafia princess.
The chosen heir.
A pawn in a blood-soaked alliance with the Irish.
I was raised to be untouchable.
Instead, I let my bodyguard ruin me.